Abstract:

Diary documents Brass's account of the 5th Archbold Expedition to New Guinea. Entries primarily describe observations about the weather and conditions of the terrain, as well as the collecting activities and results of the party, both his botanical examples and the mammal collecting done by Russel Peterson. As leader of the expedition, many of the entries also discuss organization matters such as the acquisition of permissions, camp arrangements, staffing and equipment and social engagements and institutional visits he made during the course of the expedition. Among the locations described and cited are Samarai, Normanby Island, Fergusson Island, the Iamelele camp, Bwagoaia, Joe Landing, Abaleti, Woodlark Island, Jintu and Milne Bay. Also includes entries based in Port Moresby and other sites in Papua New Guinea and Australia while he was preparing to return to the United States. Leonard J. Brass (1900-1971) was an Australian botanist and Associate Curator of the Archbold Collections in the American Museum of Natural History Department of Mammalogy. He began his expeditionary work for the Arnold Arboretum of Harvard University, and was brought into the Archbold Expeditions by Richard Archbold in 1933 for the 1st of the New Guinea Expeditions. He would join all but the last of the New Guinea Expeditions, leading the 4th, 5th and 6th, as well as the expedition to Cape York. He participated in other American Museum of Natural History expeditions, and also maintained ties with the Arnold Arboretum. Brass was involved in a research directorial capacity at the Archbold Biological Research Station in Florida from its inception in 1941 and retired in 1966.

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Related items

Peterson, Russell Francis.; American Museum of Natural History.; Archbold Expedition to New Guinea (5th : 1956); American Museum of Natural History. Department of Mammalogy. Field Book Collection.([1956], 1956)

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